Volunteering May Increase Your Lifespan

It comes as no surprise that volunteering can lift your spirits and improve your overall life and mental health.

Several studies have shown that volunteers have had a 20 percent reduction in mortality compared to non-volunteers. In fact, reports show an overall lower level of depression regarding higher levels of life satisfaction and wellbeing.

Statistics show that the number of adults volunteering worldwide is 22.5 percent in Europe, 36 percent in Australia and 27 percent in the United States. People who volunteer in their communities reportedly noted that they also had more luck gaining work experience and widening social circles.

Various studies have shown that volunteering is linked to a variety of health benefits, including increased longevity, improved quality of life, and reduction in stress and hospitalizations.

"Our systematic review shows that volunteering is associated with improvements in mental health, but more work is needed to establish whether volunteering is actually the cause. It is still unclear whether biological and cultural factors and social resources that are often associated with better health and survival are also associated with a willingness to volunteer in the first place," said lead researcher Dr. Suzanne Richards at the University of Exeter Medical School in the UK via a press release. "The challenge now is to encourage people from more diverse backgrounds to take up volunteering, and then to measure whether improvements arise for them."

More information regarding the study can be found in the BMC Public Health.